Disclaimer: I do not own Frozen. The OCs in here are mine so leave them alone.
Disclaimer 2: This chapter uses limited google translate and my own take of Spanish and Italian accents. No insult to either is intended.
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November 16, 2014
"¿En serio? Really?"
"Ayie, I said I was sorry!"
" 'onestly, you-a should 'of knocked primo."
"Like they would 'of answered. They were… busy."
"… Which kind-a were they-"
"Goddamnit Anthony, do you want to walk in there and see for yourself?"
"… No. I'll be muerto antes de que tomo dos pasos." *1
Ethan nodded in satisfaction of winning this argument, though not exactly understanding the context. "Exactly, sure, whatever you said; now shut up and pass me that Coke." Anthony replied by tossing him the red can that Ethan caught.
Ethan and Anthony were in Anthony's dorm wing kitchen scrounging around for food and drink. While Walden's was made up of top-notch students who could pay for tuition, or had paid scholarships, they hardly ever kept food around because if you leave it somewhere it'll be gone before immediately after you turn your back. Plus it's not as if they could have spending money for the good stuff; they were still college students, meaning that most of them were broke as hell.
Anthony found a Sprite in the communal fridge and moved to the living room, which was called 'The Den' by the students that lived in the southern wing. A few other students were milling about, some using the T.V. to play COD and others were studying on the tables that littered the room. And there was the odd one here and there dead asleep in front of a pile of books, head lying on their jacket, or in some cases an actual pillow.
Ethan gave a casual wave to Yvonne who was watching the game going on. She gave a slight wave back. Ethan and Yvonne had dated for several months, honestly enjoying each other's time and presence, but not feeling anything else other than friendship. Anthony and Kent joked that he was 'friendzoned', but the zoneing was mutual. Nothing happened past medium to light kissing and they frankly enjoyed being friends only.
Anthony took a seat at a vacant table and drug a chair over so Ethan could sit. "So what-a was so important that-a you needed to get inside your dorm, eh?" He asked.
"I was going to check my e-mails since I was expecting some feedback on that article I wrote, about the unification of Germany But as you could see, I was forcefully ejected from my dorm."
"I would-a say verbally from the… creative-a cussin' that-a was 'eard down the 'all."
"I'm sure the entire campus heard that." Ethan took a swig of Coke.
"There's-a goin' to be 'ell to pay."
"I know. Goddamnit, all I wanted was to get my e-mail. Why don't Kent and Kim get their own room, not mine?"
"Why? Oh, I get it. You-a want to exchange Kent-a for Yvonne, don't ya? Personally, I don't-a blame you." It just so happened that Kimberly and Yvonne shared a dorm room together. What luck huh?
"Oh God, shut up." Ethan groaned, rubbing the bridge of his nose. I do not want to deal with this crap right now, he thought.
"Well, if it isn't our favorite Peeping Tom huh?" Ethan shouted in surprise as a voice came from next to his right ear. Ethan spun around and saw Kimberly staring at him with a grin that promised a sweet personal hell later. Kent was just behind her giggling with his hand over his mouth.
"AH! I'm sorry!" Ethan said as he jumped away with Kim perusing ominously. "I didn't mean to!" Ethan calmed himself down a bit. After all, what's the worst that she… actually, nope, don't finish that thought. Too many things could happen. He still calmed himself down though to rationalize it out. Not that it would help.
"The first words that come out of everyone's mouth when they're found out." Kim said, coming at him.
"You should 'of locked the door first! It's my room too!" Ethan danced around as Kim tried to corner him.
"It's also mine." Kent managed to get out, thoroughly enjoying the show like the rest of the dorm wing was.
"Oh yea, and since we're dating, it makes it mine as well." Kim said as she took a swipe at Ethan who ducked and backpedaled hard.
"No it doesn't! That's not how it works!"
"Oy, give it a rest Ethan," Anthony said, drinking his Sprite, "You're-a not goin' to win this-a one. Take your lumps and-a be done with it."
"No thanks, I'd prefer to get out of this pain free thank you." He paused and amended his statement, "Physically anyway." He dodged another kick Kimberly sent his way and the two continued their familiar dance.
Depending on your point of view, it was fortunate or unfortunate that this little routine was normal activity for the four of them. Ethan did something completely innocent, Kim would attack him, Kent would be laughing at Ethan's misfortune, and Anthony would make sarcastic (un)helpful remarks from the sidelines. The dorm had seen this play out numerous times and small bets were being made whether Kim would get a hit in this time or not, and/or how long he'll last.
And Ethan knew all of this, which is why he currently was putting on a show for the rest of his dorm mates, drawing it out. "You should have knocked." Kim said.
"I did. But you were both … otherwise occupied." Ethan said, hesitant to say exactly what he saw for that brief second. Not that he was a stranger to sex; it was just not him to talk about it.
"It's still your fault." Kim said.
"What's my fault?"
"You interrupted us!"
"… Okay I'll give you that one. OW!" Ethan finally got caught as Kim landed a solid kick on his shin. Ethan hissed and clutched his shin as he jumped on one foot away from Kim as she was still coming after him. She landed another glancing blow on his good leg before Ethan cried, "All right all right! Enough! I give! Mercy!"
Kim finally stopped and gave him a smug look. "That'll teach ya. Now run along, I'm sure you had something to do when you busted into our room."
"It's not your room." Ethan muttered, hiding a grin.
Kim's eyes flashed and Ethan held up his hands in a placating gesture. "Okay okay, I'm going, I'm going!" Ethan backed away from her then turned and made his way down the hall after he was a fair safe distance away. He disappeared around a corner shortly thereafter.
Kent came over to Kim and said with a grin, "That was a good one."
Kim sarcastically said, "Straight from the heart." She rolled her eyes and shrugged it off, and took a seat with Anthony. Kent pulled up another chair as well. Anthony pulled out his phone and scrolled through a list on it.
"Aye, Trevor, you around-a 'ere?" He shouted.
"Yea?" A tall brown haired man shouted from across the room.
"You-a won the bet with-a the closest time." There was a cry of excitement and a call of 'pay up!' and a deal of good-natured grumbling at this, but that was the way of the dorm by now.
"So, what-a exactly did 'e catch you doin'?" Anthony asked with a raised eyebrow.
Kim rolled her eyes and Kent sighed in exasperation, "Good God Anthony, you need to get yourself a girlfriend. How many tissues have you used?"
"None. I-a use toilet paper." That was met with groans all around.
"Seriously though, you need to get outside more often."
"'Ey, I get out-a plenty often. Just no one strikes my fancy."
"Oh I'm sure you'll find someone, just give it another fifty years." Kim said with a smirk.
"Well what a fine lot you are-a." Anthony said with a huff. "Now I know what Ethan feels."
"Love you."
"Yea yea, whatever." There was a pause in the conversation. "So… what about-a the rest of you? Any strange messages lately?"
Kent and Kim shook their heads but Kent said, "Although like Ethan we are waiting on responses back from our papers as well."
For the History majors of Walden's, the professors required the students to write a full paper on anything they wanted to and if it was good enough, the professors sent that paper to several research facilities and other organizations, with the approval of the student of course. A few students are requested to join one of those groups every year and it usually means that they are the best at what they do.
All four of them have needed to do the paper and all four of them had their papers submitted to differing groups. Even though Ethan and Anthony were majoring in Archeology, it was the same process since the two subjects are related well enough.
"I've-a gotten uno back, and another one gave me a message back sayin'-a that they'll-a contact me again later. It was a strange message, really cryptic."
"Well, you'll find out eventually, right?" Kent asked.
"Possibly." Anthony shrugged.
There was another lull in the conversation. Then Kent straightened up in alarm. "Oh shite. Kim, we forgot to clean up."
Kimberly's eyes widened at that realization and looked towards the hallway where their room was. There was a mess of white-blonde hair coming right at them and blue eyes alight with murder. "Oh… shit."
Anthony laughed at their dismay. "What exactly did you-a do?"
"Run now, talk later." Kent said as he and Kim stood up and rapidly made their escape away from the cold fury that was Ethan. The two left through another hallway and Ethan stopped in front of the table Anthony was at still laughing.
"What did they-a leave?"
Ethan glared at him briefly and said, "Don't ask."
Anthony covered up a smirk, "Did-a you get anything?"
"No. All that work for nothing. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to get them to clean up their mess." Ethan then took off after the two lovers again, leaving Anthony behind, still drinking his Sprite.
Anthony finished off the soda and noticed the Coke still there. He looked over and saw Ethan was gone, then shrugged, "Well if-a you're finished with-a it." He took the Coke and started drinking it too.
November 17, 2014
"Huh." That one word comment can bring the entire world to a halt.
Kent stopped and looked over at Ethan's computer. "What?"
"Oh, uh, I just got a strange e-mail asking me to meet in Professor Carth's office in an hour." Ethan replied.
"Ooo-kay? Does it say why?"
"It just says it's for a meeting, but I can't think of anything."
"Well, you'd better go."
Ethan turned around and gave a scowl at Kent. "What, like I can say no? Of course I'm going."
"Aye, okay! Sorry!"
Ethan grunted and went on to check the rest of his mail then closed his laptop and rolled off his bed. "Whelp, I've got time to kill."
"Do you want to try and play the trombone again?" Kent suggested.
"Yea, no. Thanks but I don't think I'll be able to do anything like that in that time." Ethan shook his head.
"Well… okay, yea, I got nothing."
"Okay then." Ethan rolled back onto his back onto the bed and closed his eyes. "Wake me up in half an hour."
An hour later…
Ethan knocked on the door to Prof. Carth's office. A "come in" was heard so Ethan opened the door. There were three people inside already. First off was the professor. Prof. Carth had been working at Walden's for fourteen years and was respected as the head of his department. His hair was starting to grey from the black it was originally, though his brown eyes had lost none of their potency.
Surprisingly, Anthony was in there already and it looked like they were waiting for him. The last person was a tall man with short dirty blond hair and blue eyes. "Ah, Ethan Dieter I presume?" Ethan could tell that he had a Scandinavian accent.
"Yes, uh, Mr…?"
"Oh yes, let's get down to business then. Let's all take a seat then, ya?" Ethan pulled up a chair and gave a wave to Anthony before becoming serious.
"Well then," Prof. Carth said, "As Mr. Harmell said, let's get to it. Anthony, Ethan, this is Bjørn Harmell, and he has contacted this University with a unique proposal. Why don't you explain what you do?"
"Ah, well, I'm an archeologist and a historian and I represent Westerguard Inc." There was a moment of surprise across the two college students' faces. Westerguard Inc. was a giant in the business world, having roots in most of the major business, and the company itself is rumored to have been started over a hundred years ago.
"Ah, I see that you've heard of it, ya?" Harmell chuckled. "Well, the one of the research centers Westerguard owns has recently come across the remains of an old kingdom in Norway. The land itself isn't actually part of the nation due to some politic stuff, so recently we've gotten access to excavate the place. Nothing major has started yet and we're still gathering the equipment and people. Because you two have gotten our attention with those papers you've written, we've offered a chance to be on the excavation and research team."
Both of them had wide eye expressions on their faces. "You mean that we're going to go to Norway to excavate some ruins?"
"Ya, and one of the best parts is that Westerguard is paying for it, so no begging your parents for more money ya?" He chuckled. "Of course there's plenty of papers to sign since you're both over 18 and legally adults, but there's time to go over that stuff later. As you can imagine this is a huge discovery for us: a completely undiscovered kingdom in the middle of Norway. We have a huge opportunity to not only learn more about our history, but also have a chance to uncover this mystery kingdom. And if you two decide to join, then you'll have a part in it as well."
Prof. Carth spoke. "I hope you tow realize what an important opportunity it is for both of you, to be officially recognized by a research group. This is a big step for both of you, since you both are Archeology Majors and offers you a job in the future."
Ethan glanced at Anthony who had an identical smile on his face. "Professor, I think that we both realize what this is."
"Do you-a 'ave those papers with you Señor Harmell?" Anthony asked enthusiastically.
Harmell laughed. "Ha! Already wanting to go. All right." He went over to a bag and pulled out two folders, then handed one to both of them. "These need to be completely filled out and given to me soon. I'll be here until I catch a plane to Norway, then to the actual site. If you need to contact me, my number is in the folders, and please call be Bjørn. I'm glad that you're interested in this." He smiled, "Now if you'll excuse me, I need to meet two other students as well." He gave a nod to Prof. Carth. "Thank you for your time." He exited the room and Prof. Carth gave the two boys a smile.
"Well, I hope that you'll learn a lot, and have a little bit of an adventure on this trip."
Anthony returned the smile. "Oh yeah. We'll definitely 'ave a good time there."
Later that day…
"You too?" Kent exclaimed, holding a copy of the folder that Ethan received.
"I should be saying that as well." Ethan said. "So both you and Kim got them?"
"Yea, Bjørn wanted two history majors to help go through the records and books that they've amassed."
"Well that's good! We'll all be together on one great trip!"
"This will be really exciting! Going to Norway!" Kent stopped. "Wait, I don't know Norwegian!"
Ethan laughed, "Don't worry, I can translate well enough for all of us, as long as it's not Swedish."
November 18, 2014
"Mom yea, no, this is what I've been waiting for! This is a once in a lifetime opportunity here… Yea I know… Yea I know… Uhh, I'll be there until the 19th… December, not November… Okay… No! Look, how about we celebrate Christmas at Grandma's then? I'll book a flight to Berlin and then get a ride to her house… Look, we'll get the Christmas break together as family since I'll already be in the continent… Look, I'm going, I've already filled out most of the papers that are needed… All right, all right, I get it… Okay… Yes… Oh thank you! Finally- uhh, I mean… Ha ha, you're right, sorry… Yea… Kent, Kim, and Anthony… Yep, the entire group… All right… I leave on the, uhh, 10th… Okay… yea I will, don't worry… It's not like I've ever needed a jacket before… fine… Yes!... Okay, love you, see you at Grandma's then… bye!"
"Your mom?"
"Was that rhetorical?"
"Sure, let's go with that."
"Did you call yours?"
"Yep, went about as well as yours, except they really didn't care when I was getting back."
Ethan let some of the frustration he was feeling bleed out of his face. "Sorry, shouldn't have brought that up."
Kent shrugged, "It's fine." After a moment of silence, "Do you think they'll let me bring my trombone with me?"
"It'll be worth it just to see their expressions when you bust out some song or whatever."
December 8th, 2014
"Oi, Ethan, you have a package!" Kent shouted.
"What? What is it? Who's it from?" Ethan shouted back from the bathroom.
"It's from a Pennell Dieter." Kent said.
"What? My Grandmother?" Ethan said as he came out of the bathroom.
"Yea, here, it's pretty heavy." Kent handed the package to Ethan, who took it and used a scissor to open it.
"Well here's the letter." Ethan said and began reading it. The actual letter was in German, but Ethan had little trouble reading it.
To my grandson:
I can't tell you how surprised I am to learn that you're going on an archeological dig with your friends. I never imagined something like that happening this soon in your career and I am proud of you for getting this far. I remember that I wanted to do something with my life, but I couldn't at the time, and by the time I could, I felt too old. Of course I'm only seventy something, but who's counting? I spent a good part of my life caring for your mother until she was old enough to live on her own. Then she met your father and you're the result! Anyway, I want to congratulate you again on this adventure.
In here I've given you something that would be interesting for your research. If your parents were correct, where you're going is in Norway, right? Our family has very old roots there and I figured family history would be relevant. Unfortunately I didn't have time to include those books, but I gave you the most important one. This is a old book, so you must never remove the book jacket from it, otherwise it might fall apart on you. And let me say that that would be disastrous. The book is loaded with information that I cannot hope to ever remember, but it takes a certain mind to read it. You'll understand when you try.
Please take care of this book. I feel that it will be very important to you on this trip, so keep it safe. There is something about it…
Bah, I'm rambling again. Take care!
-Grandmother Pennell
Well that was nice of her, Ethan thought. He dug around in the box and heaved out the book. He gave it a once over. It had a thick brown book jacket over it that prevented it from apparently falling apart, but had no labels or titles on it at all. Ethan shrugged and opened it up to the front page, then frowned. The first page was blank.
Ethan tried the second page, but his fingers were too big and couldn't get it and ended up with several pages as well, all blank. Frowning even more, he opened up to a random page further in. This one actually had some words on it, but they were in Swedish. Great, the one language I don't understand.
Ethan threw away the box and put the book inside the suitcase he was forming, leaving that puzzle to be solved later.
To be continued...
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*1: dead before I take two steps.
Well, first off, HAPPY NEW YEAR! Finishing writing it at about 2:30 in the morning, so yea. Thank you whoever decided to review/read etc. It means a lot.
So this chapter is playing catch up to where Ethan and Co. are at in the first chapter/prologue. And yes, I'm going to be switching back and forth between the timelines. And speaking of times, I'm having Arendelle be set in the 1600's because it's a plot thing, so there. You'll understand later on.
Whelp, as always: R.R.F.F
-OrangeGalen